Euro Bike Tour

After 3 amazing days in the mountains it was time to say goodbye and start moving towards the Med. The day started well with the short ride to Lourdes then a 2 hour train to Toulouse and a few hours spent in the city before heading down the idyllic and flat Canal Du Midi that will lead me 150 miles all the way to the Med. With a nice evening 30 mile ride along the canal to my accommodation for the night I hadn't planned on the devil returning!

The 150 miles I have to the coast are in a South-East direction and as you will see from the weather picture below the wind is not exactly helping. Nearly 50 mph into my face! As some of you know I have a little competitive edge so rather than shy away and get the train I've gone for it. Well without doubt the strongest and hardest wind I've ever riden in and I've got 3 days of this! It was like putting your head out of a car window on the motorway for a couple of hours and trying to ride with a parachute on your back. It was brutal and relentless and it definitely wasnt good for what hair I have left! I did however strangely enjoy the challenge. Whether I will still be saying the same after 2 more days who knows.

Oh I did have the bonus of bumping into the Euros Trophy in Toulouse which after talking to Phil the nice guy from UEFA it is doing a 30 city tour. Probably the closet any Englishman is going to get to it this summer!En savoir plus

Wet Wet Wet take 2!!!

With the weather exactly the same as yesterday it was another head down and ride day. Slightly more to see today with a great ride along the beach to Sete inbetween the dunes on a custom made bike path. On a good day it would be beautiful and imagine the beach packed. Today I passed one mad old guy out for a run and had a stray dog follow me for about a mile. Also spotted a village for maybe my next holiday and had a couple of miles along a very dodgy river path after a slight map error. Still all very enjoyable and it definitely beat a Monday morning in the office!

After Sete it was a case of skirting round Montpellier (on a good day I would have probably spent a couple of hours there) and onto the ancient Roman town of Nimes with its double tiered amphitheatre dating to around 70 A.D. and numerous other Roman monuments.

Arriving in the worst of the weather they will have to wait for tomorrow where after a good few miles over the last few days I will be giving myself a day out of the saddle and some rest before I start making my way to Avignon and then tackling the famous Mont Ventoux!En savoir plus